The Wolf and the Storm
by Anne-Lilian
Summary: When threatened, the Bad Wolf will always protect herself. So when Rassilon and the rest of the Time Lords try to destroy the Time Vortex, Rose has no choice but to go to where they are threatening it. From The End of Time pt2 on, through season5, so SPOILERS! Reunion fic Rose/10, Rose/11, Amy/Rory. Rating may change
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Not sure if I should turn this into a ful-length story, so leave a review to tell me! Set during The End of Time part 2, after the Doctor crashed through the ceiling.**

**WARNING: MAJOR spoilers for the End of Time Part 2!  
disclaimer: nothing you recognise is mine, and most of the dialogue is straight from the episode.  
Fixed a typo, thanks to MargauxUniverse for pointing it out!**

"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child," Rassilon was saying, staring down at the two Time Lords in front of him.

"Oh, he's not saving you," the Doctor scoffed, desperately trying to ignore his pain. "Don't you realize what he's doing?"

"Hey, no, hey!" the Master shouted, lifting a warning finger at his former friend. "That's mine! Hush! Look around you," he said, now addressing the Lord President of the Time Lord counsel. "Look around you; I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh yes, mister president, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look… as me!" The Master was grinning by the end of his little speech, but that smile faded as the president lifted an iron gloved hand.

He opened his fist, palm up, and suddenly, all the human Masters in the room, and , presumably, all over the world started shaking, slowly fading back to normal.

"No! No, no, no, no!" the Master shouted, looking around helplessly. He glared at the president.

When the humans turned back to normal, Rassilon finally spoke. "On your knees, mankind." And they did.

It pained her to see her people like this, but the Wolf urged her to remain unseen, to wait for the right moment to come in. If she could stand to watch the Doctor in pain, than she could stand to see the human race on its knees for a few minutes.

"That's fine, that's good, because you said 'salvation'" the Master yelled, trying to salvage the situation. "I still saved you, don't forget that!"

Rassilon, however, wasn't paying any attention to the troubled Time Lord. His eyes were on the broken glass dome above their heads. "The approach begins…"

"The approach of what?" the Master asked of the Doctor, clearly confused.

The Doctor, still on the ground in pain, glared up at him. "Something is returning, don't you ever listen?!" he seethed. "That was the prophesy; not someone, something!"

"What is it?"

"They're not just bringing back the species, it's Gallifrey! Right here, right now!" he yelled.

As the humans rushed out of the room in panic, the Wolf told her it would soon be time to intervene. Finally.

"I did this, I get the credit!" the Master yelled, only thinking of himself. "I'm on your side!"

In the meantime, Wilfred ran in, and assessed the situation. When he saw a man stuck in the radiation chamber, he ran to release the man, effectively trapping himself.

She wanted to stop him, but the Wolf used her strength to keep her back. She could see what would happen, though, see what it would mean, as all of Time and Space ran through her head, and she let out a chocked sob for the consequences.

"But this is fantastic, isn't it?" the Master said as he climbed to his feet again. "The Time Lords restored."

"You weren't there in the final days of the war," the Doctor said, deceptively quiet. "You never saw what was born."

She did, though, the Wolf showed her, made her see all that happened in the war, all the horrible, devastating things. As more tears silently rolled down her cheeks, she hoped the Wolf would also make her forget.

"But if the time lock's broken, than everything is coming through, not just the Daleks, but the Skaro degradations, a horde of travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The war turned into hell! And that's what you opened, right above the earth. Hell is descending!"

The Master looked a little unsettled, but recovered quickly. "My kind of world…" he said with a sick grin.

"Listen! Because even the Time Lords can't survive that!"

"We will initiate the final sanction," the president spoke. "The End of Time will come at _my_ hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart!"

"But that's suicide," the Master countered, trying to figure out what they wanted to achieve.

"We will ascend, to become creatures of consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, where creation itself ceases to be," Rassilon proclaimed, raising his arms wide.

_Now is the time_, the Wolf urged. She willed herself to materialize, knowing the bright, golden light would draw their attention. "No, you will not," she said calmly, knowing her voice would be heard by all.

The room fell quiet - more quiet than physically possible, as there was still a planet on a collision course with the Earth - and everyone stared at her. Only one in the room knew who she was.

"Rose," the Doctor breathed, and the pain in that single word nearly killed her.

"I told you I wanted you safe, Doctor." She was suddenly at his side, a hand caressing his cheek. The Doctor closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

"Who is she?" the president demanded.

Rose straightened up and hoped that the Bad Wolf's words would be imposing enough. She let the golden energy of the Time Vortex shine through her eyes. "My name is Rose Tyler, but across the universe I'm better known as the Bad Wolf, the defender of the Earth," she replied, remaining calm, despite the rage building up inside of her.

"How did you come back?" the Doctor whispered. She was sure everyone heard, though.

She smiled at her Doctor. "You should know by now that the laws of physics don't apply to me, Doctor. Besides, you heard them," she said, gesturing to the Time Lords that were still gathered on the platform, a hint of anger in her voice. "They were destroying the Time Vortex… but I _am_ the vortex. The Bad Wold brought me to this time and place to prevent it," she explained. When she was talking to the Doctor, the Bad Wolf let her speak for herself. They depended on each other for survival now anyway.

The Doctor frowned, and she could see the concern in his eyes. "But I took that out of you, you were supposed to be safe!"

A soft smile found its way to her lips. "But I am safe, my Doctor, you took all her energy, but she was still there, dormant until only a month ago, when she felt the threat to both our lives. She had to act, but she needed my help.

During this whole conversation none of the others in the room had been able to interject, but now Rassilon finally did.

"But you are a mere human!"

She turned her golden eyes to him, the rage now clearly felt by everyone in the room, and all took a step back at the formidable power in this human girl. She had let go of the silence, but the noise only served to amplify the terrifying image she was portraying. "I am the Bad Wolf," she said with authority, but, though it was still Rose's voice, it was no longer her consciousness that spoke, and all the Time Lords in the room could feel it. "I _am_ all of Time and Space, I created the universe and time and I can do with it as I please!" Rose closed her eyes and wrestled for control again. The Wolf gave it to her. "But I won't," she said, much quieter than before. "I am only here to set things right, starting with you lot," she said, looking at the group of Time Lords on the dais again. "You do not deserve to be here."

Rose let her eyes connect with every Time Lord on the dais until they rested on the one who held her hands over her eyes. As if she had felt it, the Time Lady looked up, tears staining her beautiful older face. Instantly, Rose understood who she was, and a tear escaped her own eyes as the woman nodded, showing her understanding.

Rose let the Wolf take over then, and felt herself lift her arms. The machine that was holding the link stable dissipated into atoms under her command, and the Wolf let her go again. It was all that she needed to do.

Rassilon wasn't about to give up, though and lifted the hand with the gauntlet to the Doctor. "You'll die with me, Doctor!" he shouted.

Rose was frozen; she couldn't react as the Wolf kept her standing where she was.

"I know," the Doctor conceded, and glanced at Rose.

"No, Doctor, please, you can't leave me!" she whispered, knowing he'd hear. He smiled sadly at her, opening his mouth to reply, but was interrupted.

"Get out of the way," the Master said, rubbing his hands together. He let go of the energy, sending it right into Rassilon's chest. "You did this to me!" he roared. "All of my life! You made me!"

Rose ran to the Doctor, catching him and sinking to the ground, both holding on to the other desperately.

White light enveloped the remaining Time Lord, including the Master. They disappeared as the light dimmed, and the planet faded from the sky.

It took a minute, but the human and the last Time Lord finally released each other, staring in each other's eyes. "I'm alive," he whispered, sounding fearful but so, _so_ relieved. "I'm still alive."

Rose thought her face would split from the grin she was wearing as she threw her arms around her Doctor again. She couldn't believe she was here, in his arms, saving the universe again.

And then someone knocked four times.

**A/N: Slight bit of a cliff hanger, but if you've seen the episode that shouldn't be a big deal.**

**Tell me if you want me to continue, and, if you do, whether you want 10/Rose or 11/Rose, because I'm kinda sad that Rose would not get to spend more time with 10, but on the other hand, 11 is so wonderful too...**

**Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, I did decide to continue this, and will strive to update this once a week, probably on Wednesdays or Thursdays. As for which Doctor I chose... Well, you'll just have to see!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own!  
Fixed a tiny plothole in this, thanks to Genisis Chi for pointing it out!**

**Chapter 2**

_Rose thought her face would split from the grin she was wearing as she threw her arms around her Doctor again. She couldn't believe she was here, in his arms, saving the universe again._

_And then someone knocked four times._

Slowly, the pair let go of each other and faced the radiation chamber where Wilfred was still stuck. The timelines once again showed Rose what was supposed to happen, showed her the only two possibilities that could occur.

Rose sat back as the Doctor talked to the old man, and watched in pain as he raged against what even he knew would happen.

"But this is what I get; my reward… But it's not fair!" the Doctor shouted, shoving everything that was on a nearby desk off of it in anger. Rose stepped forward, but hesitated to touch him, knowing he would just push her away now. He needed to vent. "I've lived too long," he whispered then, raising his eyes to hers.

She dared to cup his cheek then, wiping away a tear with her thumb. He was right; it wasn't fair.

"I've only just found you," he breathed, pulling her closer, burying his face in her hair.

A stupid idea then occurred to her, an idea the Wolf inside of her did not agree too. She shut it up quickly. "What if you didn't have to die?" she whispered in his ear.

The Doctor pulled back to look into her eyes. "Rose-" he started, shaking his head, but she interrupted him.

"I know you have to go in there, and you have to save him, because I can't, I'm not physically here enough, but what if I could make it so the radiation didn't kill you?" Rose was still whispering: Wilfred didn't have to know this.

Hope shone in the Doctor's eyes, no matter how much he tried to hide it. "You can't."

Rose stepped back. "I can and I will. It will exhaust the last bit of energy the Wolf has, but I can do it. It would take her another hundred years to reawaken, but I don't care. I love you, and I'm not losing you again."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, shock evident on his face. A moment later his lips were on hers, threatening to drown her with the love she could feel radiating off of him. With a slight start, she realized this was their first proper kiss together, as their first had technically been Cassandra and their second had technically been the metacrisis. That idle thought was quickly drowned out, though, as she poured everything she had into that kiss.

It couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime, and yet not long enough. Rose was gasping for air by the time the Doctor pulled away, and even he was breathing a little hard. He rested his forehead against hers. "Rose Tyler," he whispered, before dashing off to the radiation chamber.

Rose was dazed enough by the onslaught of emotions to not react right away while the Doctor rushed into the chamber and ushered Wilfred out.

"Doctor! No!" she shouted as the Doctor cried out in pain. She desperately tried to grab hold of the Bad Wolf's power that coiled within her, but she knew it was too late. Rose barely held back a sob as the Doctor convulsed on the floor of the tiny glass room. She ran to the cabin and slid down to sit next to him, aching to hold him, and comfort him.

Eventually the chamber shut down, though the Doctor stayed on the ground, unmoving. Rose watched him nervously for a minute, before getting up and opening the chamber herself, trying to help him up.

Finally the Doctor responded, and let Rose help him.

"Still with us?" asked Wilfred hesitantly. He didn't know who Rose was, and while he was not afraid, he didn't really want to get closer to a creature that could make a whole room full of Time Lords flinch.

"The system's dead," the Doctor replied, managing to stand on his own now, though he never let go of Rose's hand. "I absorbed it all… whole thing's kaput."

"Well, here we are then, safe and sound. Mind you, you're in hell of a state," Wilfred said, pointing to the Doctor's scraped up face. "You've got some battle scars there."

The Doctor raised a hand to his face, wiping it down and healing the cuts there. It was the start of his regeneration, helped along by some residual energy from the Bad Wolf.

Wilfred stared. "But they've… your face… how did you do that?"

The Doctor looked down at his free hand, realizing what must've happened. "It's started."

A teary-eyes Wilfred stepped forward, not even caring that Rose was there now, and wrapped his arms around the Time Lord. Rose stepped back and watched the scene. When the Doctor's eyes finally connected with hers, they shared a significant look, and she could read the sadness in his eyes just as he could read it in hers.

/*/

After they'd said goodbye to Wilfred, and were back in the TARDIS, Rose took the Doctor's hand in hers, twining their fingers together.

The Doctor looked at her, and the sadness in his eyes almost broke her. "You can't stay, can you?" It was more of a statement than a question, but she answered it anyway.

"Not yet. But I'll be back. It'll be a few days for you, tops," she promised, stepping closer.

He let her kiss him softly, but barely responded. It was nothing like the desperate kiss they had shared earlier. "I'll have to change now," he said as she pulled back.

She nodded. "But I don't care what face you wear, You'll always be my Doctor, and I'll always love you."

This time, he pulled her in for a kiss, and both of them just held on to each other. Relief, joy, and sadness at what their story had been up to that point clear in the way they wrapped their arms around the other. But there was also love. Though this Doctor had never told her outright, Rose knew he loved her as much as she loved him, though it didn't seem possible. Even when they pulled back, they stayed entwined in each other, both unwilling to let go just yet.

Because letting go would mean saying goodbye again.

Rose buried her head in the Doctor's shoulder and inhaled that typical smell that was just his. Even John, who had been a near clone, had never quite smelled the same to her. She sighed quietly, knowing the Doctor was wondering what had happened between her and his duplicate, but didn't ask because he was afraid of the answer.

John was dead.

And didn't that thought just kill the mood. Reluctantly, Rose wiggled out of the Doctor's hold. He let her go.

"I have to go," she told him. "I'll see you in a few days, I swear."

"You won't recognise me," he countered.

Rose rolled her eyes, right pessimist, he was. "I'll always recognise you." She grinned. "Besides, all I have to look out for is a loon with a blue box, right?"

He smiled, but she could tell it was a little forced.

"I know you're going to say goodbye to your companions, but you can't forget to say goodbye to me too."

The Doctor frowned at her, a hint of panic in those expressive brown eyes. "I remember a bloke on New Years Eve in 2005 standing outside my building. He was in pain, and he was wearing a brown pinstripe suit." She raised an eyebrow at him. "He said I was going to have a fantastic year."

The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes. "You remember… Then why did you act all panicky when I regenerated last time?!" he exclaimed.

"Because I didn't make the connection until much, much later, and I figured you'd done it while I was in the other universe. It sounded like a goodbye, even though I didn't know you yet."

The Doctor nodded. Rose kissed him one last time, lingeringly on his lips, and then stepped back. The last remaining energy of the Bad Wolf enveloped her, and everything faded to darkness.

/*/

When she opened her eyes, she was back in the same spot in the TARDIS, but she could tell that some time had passed, a week maybe. The interior had changed a lot, but she liked it. Not as much as the coral, but at least it was easier to navigate.

"You look beautiful," she whispered. The TARDIS gave a quiet hum of approval.

Rose was about to call out for the Doctor when she heard muffled voices outside of the door. Grinning, she opened the door just a little and peeked out.

The TARDIS was parked in someone's bedroom, and a man and a woman sat on the bed. Something told her the man was the Doctor. A wedding dress hung in the corner of the room, Rose assumed it was the girl's.

"No, still not getting it," the Doctor was saying, frowning at the pretty redhead. Rose rolled her eyes. Huge Time Lord brain, and still he couldn't understand a simple human conversation.

"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand-" the girl said, and leaned forward.

Rose's jaw dropped, and she was just too confused to react. The Doctor had jumped back, so she was sure he didn't return this girl's obvious feelings, but it was just so _weird_ to see someone actually try to jump the Doctor. Everyone fell in love with him, but no one ever acted on it. At least, neither she nor Martha had. Donna didn't count, the woman was far too scary at times.

"You're getting married in the morning!" the Doctor protested, running towards the TARDIS. Luckily, he was too preoccupied to notice Rose.

"Well the morning's a long time away," the redhead countered, following him and pushing him up against the side of the TARDIS.

Rose couldn't see them anymore, and that was a little too much for her. She opened the door completely and stepped out, letting her mother shine through.

"Get. Your hands. Off. The Doctor!" she said, hands on her hips and glare in place.

The redhead jumped back and looked at her in confusion, while the Doctor looked horribly embarrassed, pushing his suspenders – and why was he wearing _suspenders_? And a bowtie? – back up his shoulders.

"There is no way you get to kiss those lips if I haven't, missy," Rose said, stepping closer and slipping her hand into the Doctor's. He still looked embarrassed, and quite possibly afraid, but also relieved that he hadn't kissed that girl.

"Who are you?" the redhead asked, putting her own hands on her hips.

"Rose Tyler. You?"

"Amy Pond."

They just stared at each other for a while - well, more like glared – but then Rose started laughing.

The other girl frowned at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," Rose replied through her giggles. "He gets himself into these situations more often than you'd think. He kissed Madame de Pompadour once."

The Doctor actually looked guilty while Amy raised an eyebrow. Rose elbowed him gently. "Oh, stop it. I was upset about it back then, but I got over it. I know you love me," she said quietly, turning to face him and taking his other hand.

He pecked her gently on the lips. "I do."

Rose quirked a smile. "Isn't she supposed to say that in the morning?"

The Doctor started to smile, but it melted off his face just as fast. "In the morning…" the Doctor said, almost to himself, and then turned to face the redhead. "It's you, it's all about you. Everything, it's about you…"

Rose rolled her eyes. If she wasn't so sure he didn't feel anything for Amy, she might've been hurt, but this was the Doctor. He did odd things all the time, and thought of things other people would never have imagined.

Amy frowned at him in confusion too, and glanced from him to Rose and back again.

"Amy Pond, mad, impossible Amy Pond… I don't know why, I've no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe, is that I get you sorted out right now."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Amy replied with a smirk, but the Doctor ignored her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the TARDIS.

"And here we go again," Rose muttered to the empty room before following the odd pair into the spaceship. Adventure was waiting.

**A/N: Tell me what you think! I'm sorry if I chose the wrong Doctor for some of you, but I figured this would work better, and this way I can do the whole season if I feel like it!**

**Anywhoo, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here it is! I know I said next week, but since writing's been so easy lately (I've typed it up to C5), I decided one last treat for my wonderful readers/reviewers!**

**This is not betaed, so any mistakes left are my own, and I don't own Doctor Who, or anything that you recognise. Most of the dialogue was taken from the episode.  
Also a big thanks to Guest and Jecir for reviewing, since you don't have a profile. And thanks to Zlorea for pointing out a really dumb mistake I made!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3:**

"And you thought it was a good idea to jump out of a stripper cake and announce to all of his friends that his fiancé had tried to kiss you?" Rose asked sceptically, leaning against the brand new console. Well… brand new to her.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck – he still did that – and seemed a little sheepish. "Well, in hindsight… maybe not…"

Rory, Amy's fiancé was standing on one side of the console room, staring at Amy intently, while the redhead was looking anywhere but at him.

Rose rolled her eyes. She loved the Doctor, but he was such an idiot sometimes. "I'm going to go check if my room's still in the TARDIS database, you sort this mess out," she said and pushed off, heading up the stairs.

Once she was in the corridor, she could hear the Doctor tinker on the TARDIS while giving the couple relationship advice. _Yeah, because he's such a whizz at relationships_, she snorted to herself.

The TARDIS hummed in agreement in her mind, so Rose stopped and put a hand on the wall. "We're too good for him, you know," she murmured, sending a feeling of affection towards the ship. She received a warm feeling back.

Ever since Satellite 5, Rose had always been able to feel the TARDIS in her mind, and had been able to get a general idea of what the ship meant. She didn't think in words like humans or most other sentient species did, and though she probably knew English, she always communicated through feelings.

Rose sighed and went back on her way. "So where is it? Is it still in here somewhere?" she asked. Honestly, she'd just used this as an excuse not to be involved in the conversation the Doctor was currently having with Amy and Rory, but she might as well check. She'd need a place to sleep anyway.

She found her door soon after she asked that question, no doubt the TARDIS had moved it closer for her. "Thanks, love," Rose said.

The door was slightly different than it had been before she'd been left in the other universe, but it was subtle. Where the door had been a bright pink before, it now was a slightly more subdued hue of the same colour, and had golden swirls decorating the entire surface.

Rose smiled, knowing that when the TARDIS had reset herself, she must've changed her room too. Rose pushed open the door, and smiled wider. The bed was still huge and made up the centre of the room, the spread the same colour and pattern as the door. There were a lot of different colours and tones around the room, actually, but they all radiated a warmth that made Rose instantly at home again. Most of the furnishings had stayed the same, but the closet seemed to have grown some.

And then there was the extra door. On the right side of the room there was a white door leading to the bathroom, she knew, but there had definitely not been a door on the opposite side of the room before. She turned the handle and peered inside.

That room could only belong to one person.

It was all blues and browns and it was littered with little bobs and pieces of the TARDIS, both coral-looking ones and newer ones. It had a bed, but it was the only neat thing in the room, as it probably hadn't been slept in yet. There was no wardrobe, but there was a sort of cupboard that she was sure held more bowties, shirts and suspenders. While the sight of the Doctor's rooms made her smile and roll her eyes, Rose also wondered why there was a door directly from hers to his.

She didn't have much time to ponder this, though, as the TARDIS warned her that they'd landed. Rose grinned and dashed back to the console room, which was definitely closer coming back than it had when she was going to her room.

The Doctor stood at the doors, Rory and Amy behind him, and they were about to set foot outside.

"Venice!" the Doctor exclaimed, throwing open the doors and holding out his hands wide. "Venezia! La Serenissima!" She couldn't help grinning as she stepped out of the TARDIS and into some kind of marketplace, though. Even Amy and Rory, who had been sulking a little, were smiling.

The Doctor went into full teacher mode then, and explained all about how wonderful Venice was, and how it came to be, and all that.

"Hang on!" Rose interrupted as the Doctor was in danger of wandering off. "Wardrobe first!" She grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her into the TARDIS, trusting the ship to put it a little closer.

She found the door with the familiar Gallifreyan swirls quickly, and dashed inside with the redhead.

"Why do we have to change?" she asked, a little sullenly.

Rose was grinning madly, deliriously happy that she was doing this again. "Trust me, having Queen Victoria call you a 'wee naked child' once is bad enough. Besides, apart from the running, this is the best part!" Rose claimed, and climbed the first staircase towards the sixteenth century, and then asked the TARDIS silently to put Italy closer.

"Where do all these clothes come from?" Amy asked in wonder, finally taking in just how many clothes were in here.

Rose shrugged as she shifted through the clothes. "The TARDIS makes some of them, some are gifts, some stolen, some are clothes belonging to companions. Usually not their favourite stuff, because that would make the Doctor sad, but just clothes they forgot or left behind. Most of it's stolen, though," Rose added, grinning at the redhead over her shoulder.

Amy came up the stairs and started shifting through dresses too. She made a face. "Are we really supposed to wear one of these… tents?" she asked apprehensively.

Rose rolled her eyes – she seemed to be doing that a lot lately – and picked out a less extravagant dress that was less like a tent for Amy, and handed it to her.

"Try that one, the green goes well with your haircolour," Rose said, and turned back to the dresses. It took a while, but she eventually found a blue gown that was just a little bit nicer than Amy's dress – which was absolutely _not_ because she was jealous, not in the slightest.

When they made their way back outside – and Rose had taken a cotton shirt for Rory to wear instead of that hideous 'Rory's stag' shirt – the Doctor was telling him about the time he met Cassanova.

Amy walked right up to the boys as Rose turned and closed the TARDIS doors. Though Rose was wearing a dress, she'd opted to wear running shoes underneath, and had advised Amy to do the same. She had a feeling they'd be doing a whole lot of running again.

When she turned back around, the Doctor was staring at her. She smirked a little and slowly spun in a circle. She suspected the TARDIS had something to do with her choice of gown, but she didn't mind. Girls had to stick together, after all.

Rose finally walked over and looped her arms through the Doctor's. He was staring at her with a funny look in his eyes, but she ignored it. If he wanted to ask something, he would.

They set off through an arch at the edge of the square when a man in official-looking garb stopped them.

"Papers if you please," the man said, tucking a clipboard of some sort under his arms. "Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection." But the Doctor was still distracted, so Rose reached inside his jacket and pulled out the psychic paper.

"I'm terribly sorry, my husband is a little confused today," she said with a charming smile as she handed it over.

The man looked at it and promptly bowed. "I'm so sorry, Your Lordship, I didn't realize."

"No worries," the Doctor said, finally joining in the conversation. "You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens," the man replied, and both Amy and Rose had to bite their tongue to keep from laughing. "Visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice. See where you bring me? The plague," Amy said, but there was a humorous edge to her voice as she smacked the Doctor's arm. That earned her a point in Rose's mind; the Doctor needed smacking more often.

The inspector hadn't noticed, though. "Don't worry Viscountess. No, we're under quarantine here. No one goes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri."

"How interesting, I heard that the plague died out years ago," the Doctor interjected, looking very interested now.

"Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes: streets piled high with bodies, she said."

The Doctor smiled pleasantly, but it didn't reach his eyes, which were narrowed in suspicion. "Did she now?"

Rory took the psychic paper off the inspector as the latter moved off towards new victims.

"Er… according to this, I'm your eunuch," he said, frowning at the wallet.

Rose frowned. She hadn't projected that when she'd handed it over. Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, he was the only one who could've changed that.

As Amy told her fiancé she'd explain later, Rose stood on the tips of her toes to reach the Doctor's ear. "Eunuch? Can't you give that bloke a break for once?" she whispered.

The Doctor smiled sheepishly and set off, forcing Rose to follow or stumble.

/*/

"You know, you always complain that your companions wander off, but I think you're just a hypocrite," Rose teased as she caught up to the Doctor. Long since used to his antics, she'd kept an eye on him as he watched the scene in front of the Calvierri house. When he dashed off, she simply ran after him.

He glanced at her, but didn't reply. Rose frowned. That was the second time he almost ignored her instead of joining in her teasing as he usually did. She decided to try again.

"You haven't told me I look beautiful for a human yet," she said, thinking back on their Charles Dickens adventure in Cardiff.

"You're beautiful for any species, Rose," mumbled, and set off on a run again as he spotted the man he'd seen at the Calvierri house.

Rose slowed to a stop. Something was wrong, and he wasn't going to tell her. Why was he being so distant all of a sudden? Was it because they were on an adventure with Amy and Rory? But they'd always managed fine when other people had joined them on their travels. Rose frowned to herself, and vowed that she's find out after they'd saved the day this time.

/*/

Vampires. There were bloody vampires in Venice, no pun intended.

They were standing around a table in Guido's house – the man the Doctor had been chasing earlier. And once again, it seemed like the Doctor was avoiding her. He was standing at the head of the table with Amy and Rory on either side. Guido stood next to the latter, and Rose was next to Amy. It was as if he was trying to maintain a distance from her, both physically and emotionally, but what she didn't get was _why_?

Guido was explaining about the entrances to the Calvierri house, but Rose wasn't paying attention. She walked over to the wall and sat down on a stool.

Amy suggested she go in undercover, but Rose had experience with that kind of work, and it never ended well. Guido thought about blowing the whole thing up, but of course the Doctor was against that.

There was only one thing she could do really. So while the others argued about who should be posing as Amy's brother/father/fiancé, Rose slipped out the door silently, unseen by any of the room's other occupants.

**A/N: Review! Next chappie should be up next week, probably Monday or Tuesday.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: See? I'm being all nice and keeping to my word. I've just started writing chapter 7, so I'm safe for a while, but I'm suffering from horrible writer's block :(  
Also; thanks to all you wonderful reviewers, and of course all the people who favourited and alerted (71 alerts, I still can't believe it!). One more thing; this is not beta-ed, so all mistakes left are my own, and I don't own Doctor Who (because if I did, Rose would probably not have left, or at least not permenantly).**

**I swear this is the last thing; if you like this story, you'll absolutely love Lumendea's 'The Blonde Girl' and the sequels to it. It is an amazingly well written fanfiction (as evidenced by the more than 1000 reviews), and I absolutely adore it. It's also regularly updated!**

**Chapter 4:**

_previously:_

_There was only one thing she could do really. So while the others argued about who should be posing as Amy's brother/father/fiancé, Rose slipped out the door silently, unseen by any of the room's other occupants._

"I have no family left, Signora. My parents were killed by the plague, and my uncle, who had been taking care of me died in an accident two days ago. I have no one," Rose said, a tear slipping down her cheek. "No one wants me, I have nowhere to go and no education." She didn't have to fake the waterworks, what with the Doctor's attitude of late. And most of what she said was actually true; her parents were dead, she had no education to speak of, and if the Doctor choose to leave her behind… she'd have nowhere to go. Rose might never have been the best liar, but in this case, she thought she could've fooled herself.

"Why have you brought me this girl?" the Signora asked of the steward as her slimy son walked over to Rose and started circling her.

"She has references from his majesty the King of Spain," the steward explained.

"What? Let me see," the Signora asked, holding out an elegant, gloved hand.

Rose stepped forward nervously, ignoring the feeling of being watched. She swore to herself if that slimy bastard couldn't keep his hands to himself, he was going to feel the Tyler slap, son of the Signora or not.

"Well, now I see what got my steward so excited. What say you, Francesco, do you like her?" she asked of her son. Rose stepped back, and once again the man started circling her. He was going to give her a headache.

"Oh, I do mother, I do," he replied, never taking his eyes off Rose.

"Than we'd be delighted to have you, my dear," the Signora said to Rose, a deceptively gentle smile on her face. But Rose had faced down countless of dangerous aliens, both with and without the Doctor; they always seemed friendly at first. She wasn't fooled.

Nonetheless, Rose gave a watery smile before following the steward down into the bowels of the estate, and into the sleeping quarters of the girls. She met a few of them down the road, and they were bloody creepy.

She was led into a room with several beds, but it could hardly be called a dormitory. The detail and artwork on the walls and dome-shaped ceiling was far too exquisite to be so diminished.

"There are clothes on the bed, get changed and wait here," the steward said as he left, followed by most of the girls in the room.

One girl remained seated on the bed next to Rose's, so she quickly sat down next to her.

"Hi, my name's Rose. What's your name?" she asked gently, taking in the sadness in the girl's features.

"Isabella," the girl replied, barely looking over. It was obvious she'd been crying.

"Listen, I can get you out of here, but first I need you to tell me what's going on. What is this place? What are they doing here?"

She finally looked at Rose properly then, confusion and hope battling the sadness and defeat in her eyes. "They… they come at night. They gather around my bed, and they take me to this room with this green light and a chair with straps, as if for a surgeon," she explained, her eyes screwed shut in remembered pain.

Rose felt a sense of dread settle over her. "What happens then?"

Isabella shook her head, frowning in concentration. "I wake up here… and the sunlight burns my skin like candlewax."

A bell chimed the hour, and Rose realized that if she was going to open that door in time for the Doctor and the others to get in. "I need to go do something, but I'll be back, and we'll get out of here together, alright? We'll get you sorted out, I promise," Rose assured. She decided to throw on the white gown on her bed so she wouldn't stand out quite as much if she were spotted, before she made her way out of the room and into danger.

/*/

He clung to the shadows as he watched Rose try to be stealthy and snuck towards the secret entrance to the compound. He hadn't needed such conventional ways of getting in, of course, no matter how much the Doctor complained about his method of transportation.

It was harder than he'd thought not to call out to the blonde and sweep her up into a hug, but he had to remain hidden until the right time. He'd gotten his instructions, after all.

He was just afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from helping her when she was captured.

/*/

Rose might not have been paying attention in Guido's house, but try as she might, she'd been a Torchwood agent for far too long not to memorize blueprints or plans when they were in front of her. Especially if she was going to be breaking out of that building soon.

She quickly made her way over to the central courtyard and opened the grate on the well, hoping the Doctor would be here soon.

In all honesty she hadn't done this just for selfless reasons. Rose was hoping that if the Doctor saw she was still her, still Rose Tyler, and still able to save the world, that he'd stop pushing her away. And… well… she didn't want to be upstaged by Amy.

Rose rolled her eyes at herself. Amy was getting married, her fiancé was even with them, and still she was jealous. She picked up the lamp she'd been carrying and turned around, but was startled by the steward and dropped it.

He grabbed her with surprising strength and dragged her off, leaving the grate opened and untouched.

She tried to fight, honestly, she did, but she'd been surprised, and she couldn't get good leverage to throw him off. She'd taken some martial arts classes in the other universe, on John's insistence, and had become quite good at it, but that was all in a classroom setting.

Finally she managed to elbow him in the side and started to run off, but something hard and probably metal caught her in between her shoulder blades, and she was left dazed.

It was easy for the steward to drag her off then.

She was in and out of consciousness while he took her deeper into the bowels of the house. But she was wide awake when she was pushed into a room with green light.

Rose struggled again, but knew it was useless now.

"Psychic paper… did you really think that would work on me?" the Signora asked. Francesco and the other creepy girls were all in the room as well, almost as if they were standing guard.

"Where are you from?" the Signora demanded, circling Rose with a strange kind of eagerness.

"I'm from a long way from here, as are you," Rose replied, having stopped struggling now. She had to save her strength. "Tell me, what planet are you from?" The Signora simply stared at her incredulously. "Because I know quite a few of them. And they know me." Rose was bluffing now, but she really hoped they wouldn't notice. "Ever heard of the Daleks? Or maybe the cybermen? Slitheen? Scorax, the Gelth?" The Signora was looking a little alarmed now. "They all don't like me very much, because I scare them. And you know why? Because I'm the Big Bad Wolf, and wherever I go, if they stand in my way, they get dealt with," Rose bit out, letting all her anger shine through. Yes, she was bluffing, and yes, she was frightened, but she was _not_ going to die at the hands – or fangs, really – of medieval vampires.

"Mother, this is pointless, let's just start the process," Francesco said impatiently, obviously never having heard of any of those species. His mother seemed more thoughtful though.

"Hold you tongue, Francesco! I need to know what this girl is doing in a world full of savages with psychic paper and knowledge far beyond her species," the Signora spat as two of the girls brought out a chair with straps. Rose started struggling again.

"I don't believe that a measly human girl like you could defeat all those mighty empires. Who are you with?" she demanded.

Rose couldn't help it, she smirked. "You're right, I didn't. But my friend did, and when he finds me here, tied up in that chair – and trust me, he will find you – you'd better hope nothing's wrong with me, because hell will rain down on you," she warned in a low voice.

For a moment the Signora didn't react, but then she chuckled. "We're doing the chair, she's bluffing." The girls were hanging bags of liquid from a hook in the ceiling, right above the chair, as Rose was shoved into it.

Her hands were bound before she could react, and her head was shoved aside. Then, something pierced the skin in her neck and she screamed for the Doctor.

It seemed to take forever before the Signora finally stopped drinking her blood. Rose opened her eyes, though she didn't remember closing them. She was only vaguely aware of the other girls leaving the room.

"She tastes… exquisitely… Something in her blood… I feel so strong…" the Signora was saying, but she sounded like she was far away to Rose. Her head hurt, and she felt dizzy.

"Mother, the way you drink from her… may we share? I'm so thirsty…" Francesco was saying. Rose could feel his slimy hands on her shoulder and neck, but his voice sounded far too. This wasn't good.

"Of course, darling."

As Francesco practically drooled all over her, the Signora explained the process. Rose really didn't want to know.

"Or you could die, that can happen," Francesco said matter-of-factly, brushing Rose's hair from her shoulder.

"And if I survive?" Rose couldn't help but ask.

She didn't like the answer. Ten thousand of those creatures were hidden in Venice somewhere? And they wanted her to… mate with one of them? Or more, she didn't really know what these creatures thought about polygamy.

No chance in hell. "Sorry, I'm sort of taken," she said, not apologetic at all, and gathered all her remaining strength to kick at the Signora's hip. She hit something hard, though, and while Francesco held her in a headlock, his mother grabbed at a device that was attached to her hip. It made sparked, and the image of the Signora flickered. Suddenly, instead of a beautiful older woman, a huge, ugly, lobster-like creature stood before Rose. It hissed at her before the device started working again and the Signora was back.

Before anyone could properly react, though, the Doctor's voice echoed through the halls and Francesco, his mother and the steward left her to deal with them.

Rose was still dizzy, and in no state to escape on her own. Suddenly, Rose was startled by someone loosening the straps on the chair. But as she turned to look who it was, she was certain she was hallucinating.

"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.

"No time, run!" he yelled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into one of the tunnels. Barely a second went by before they came across a junction in the corridor, with the Signora, Francesco and the steward on their right, and the Doctor, Rory and Amy, followed by a whole bunch of vampire girls on their left.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked incredulously at the same time as the man yelled: "This way!" and led them back the way they'd come.

**A/N: *grins evilly* any ideas as to who the mystery man is? I loved twisting this ep around ^^**

**Review and let me know your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: As promised, the next chapter! Next will be next week Thursday.**

**A lot of you guessed right about the mystery man: blazinglizard09, Margaret Black, jake2490, Black-Dranzer-1119 and Miss Moria. Congrats! Though Dreamcatcher49 had a really great suggestion, too. Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**Chapter 5:**

_Previously:_

"_What are you doing here?" she exclaimed._

"_No time, run!" he yelled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into one of the tunnels. Barely a second went by before they came across a junction in the corridor, with the Signora, Francesco and the steward on their right, and the Doctor, Rory and Amy, followed by a whole bunch of vampire girls on their left._

"_What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked incredulously at the same time as the man yelled: "This way!" and led them back the way they'd come._

When they got to a tunnel in the basement of the building, they finally had a moment to – sort of – talk.

"They're not vampires, they're aliens! I saw them!" Rose yelled. She was still being supported by her saviour, but the adrenaline in her system was helping her stay upright.

"I knew that, what I want to know is what he's doing here?" the Doctor responded, waving his UV light at the aliens chasing them.

"Can we do this later? We're running for our lives here!" Rose's saviour responded, pushing onwards.

They finally got to the outside exit and dashed down the stairs towards Guido's gondola. The man was looking over all their heads, probably looking for his daughter.

Luckily the sun was shining, so the vampire-aliens didn't dare go outside. They shut the door quickly, and left their prisoners escape.

"Where's my daughter?" Guido asked desperately, but Rose could tell from his face that he already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry. I told her to wait for me, and with the sun out…" she tried to explain, but it wouldn't help this poor man's agony.

"But they saw me, they'll know… they'll…"

As Rory tried his best to console the sobbing man, Rose saviour fiddled with the strange looking watch on his wrist. "And that's my cue to be off," he said cheerfully.

"You can't go!" Rose protested. "You haven't explained-"

"Long story short, you sent me, Rosie. And you told me to tell the Doctor to get over it already, whatever that is about," he said with a wink at the man in question.

He set the coordinates on his vortex manipulator and pushed it.

"Jack, wait!" Rose shouted, but he was gone. She sighed. It'd been so great to see him again, and she had so many questions.

The Doctor didn't look any less confused than her, but it was hard to tell. Rose had to admit she missed his expressive brown eyes. These green ones were so much harder to read. Or was that because she didn't know him anymore?

/*/

While the Doctor was off on his own to see Signora Rosanna, the rest of the group was sat in Guido's house again. The man had pulled himself together, but Rose didn't like the glint in his eyes. He was going to do something stupid, she was sure.

Rory had taken a look at Rose's neck, as he was apparently a nurse, and had told her she'd be okay. He also gave her a blanket, which definitely made her like him more.

When the Doctor finally came back in, he was completely closed off, but he did take the time to sonic the puncture wounds in Rose's neck and heal them.

"Did you make it green to match your eyes?" Rose teased, gesturing to the sonic. The Doctor looked at her, but didn't really respond. "You're fine," he proclaimed, and made her open her mouth.

"Is that a blood restorative pill?" she asked in disgust. She'd had her fair share of those, and they tasted awful. She opened her mouth anyway, though, and swallowed the pill

As they sat back around the table, the Doctor did that thing he did where he needed to think, but didn't want anyone else interrupting, so Rose crossed her arms and leaned back.

She was once again sitting about as far from the Doctor as possible, though this time she was the one who'd put the buffer between them.

Rory knew, as he kept glancing from her to the Doctor and back.

"Argh. I need to think. Come on, brain. Think, think, think. Think," the Doctor muttered to himself.

"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun," Amy said, oblivious to the Doctor's need to talk things out with himself.

Rose couldn't help a smirk as the Doctor put a hand over her mouth and told her to stop talking because his brain was thinking.

"It's the school thing I don't understand," Rory tried, but he got shushed with a hand on his mouth too.

"Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush," the Doctor said.

Guido decided he needed to try as well. "I say we take the fight to them."

"Ah, ah, ah," the Doctor interrupted.

"What?" Guido asked.

The Doctor motioned from Rory to Guido with his head, and the former put a hand over Guido's mouth. Rose had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at that point.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her in challenge, but Rose simply raised her hands in defeat, so the Doctor went on talking to himself. "Ah. Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here. Then she closes off the city and, one by one, starts changing the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. But then what? They come from the sea. They can't survive for ever on land, so what's she going to do? Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable. She said, I shall bend the heavens to save my race. Bend the heavens. Bend the heavens," he said, moving his hands to Amy and Rory's heads and moved them up and down. "She's going to sink Venice."

"She– She's going to sink Venice?" Guido asked after Rory dropped his hand.

"And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory pointed out. "You need blokes."

Rose sighed and wiped a hand down her face. "She's got blokes."

"Where?" the Doctor asked. Oh, so now he was paying attention to her?

"In the canal. She said to me there are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water," Rose replied.

"Only the male offspring survived the journey here. She's got ten thousand children swimming around the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends." The Doctor made a face. "Urgh. I mean, I've been around a bit, but really that's, that's eugh."

They were interrupted by thumping coming from upstairs.

"The people upstairs are very noisy," the Doctor commented.

Guido frowned. "There aren't any people upstairs."

"Do you know, I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

"Is it the vampires?"

"Like I said, they're not vampires-" The Doctor started.

"Who cares? Run!" Rose interrupted.

/*/

He really did feel sorry for leaving Rosie with the Doctor while he was being like that, but Jack had a job to do. A job future Rose had given him, and he was fine with taking the Doctor's word that a Tyler slap _hurt_.

He appeared in a dormitory – if you could call it that – where a single girl was waiting in the shadows.

She hissed at the sight of him and tried to sink further into the darkness. "It's alright," he assured her, trying to appear less imposing. "I'm a friend of Rose's. She told you she'd get you out, right?"

The girl – Isabella – nodded uncertainly, and took a hesitant step forward. A crash in the hallway made both of them jump.

"We don't have much time. They know your father is trying to get you out, so they're about to execute you. If you'll excuse me," he said, grabbing her hand and slamming it onto the vortex manipulator on his wrist.

In a flash of light, they were gone.

When they arrived at their destination, Isabella swayed on her legs, but was caught by strong arms that she knew very well. "Father?" she asked groggily.

"Sorry, vortex travel will do that to ya," Jack said, taking the candle from Guido's free arm. Rose really did have impeccable timing, he noted as he watched all the beautiful alien girls trying to make a grab for them.

With his free hand, Jack took hold of both of the Venetians and held them over the vortex manipulator.

"When I say now, press down," he told Guido, who had dropped the UV light, so the vampire thingies stayed a little ways behind.

Jack lit the fuse to the barrels behind him at the same time her yelled "Now!"

Another flash and an explosion, and they were gone.

/*/

Rose looked at the destroyed house in shock. She _knew_ he was going to do something stupid! She _knew_ it, and she didn't stop him. She should've stopped him.

She made to get back into the house, despite knowing Guido was already gone, but the Doctor's arms held her back.

"No, I should've stopped him! Let me go!" she shouted at him, but he wouldn't let go. The Doctor didn't say anything, but pulled her closer to him, pressing her to his chest.

Rose struggled for a little while, but knew it was futile.

"I left his daughter to die, while I promised I'd get her out, and now I've killed him too," she sobbed, fisting her hands into the Doctor's shirt.

"It wasn't your fault," he murmured against her hair, stroking her back gently.

Rose had lost so many people already one would think she'd get used to it. But it only got harder.

"It's getting darker," Amy commented from behind Rose.

"Rosanne is initiating the final phase," the Doctor said as Rose pulled back and dried her tears. There was more at stake here than one man's life.

"We need to stop her, come on," Amy said, already turning on her heel.

"No, no, no. Get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor refused.

"You can't stop her on your own!" she protested.

Rose stepped forward and took the Doctor's hand, silently telling her he won't be on his own.

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it!" he shouted at her.

Amy opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out. She turned and ran the opposite direction.

"Thank you," Rory said and turned to follow his fiancé.

"You're welcome," the Doctor replied, even though Rory could hear him anymore.

"You know she'll get involved somehow," Rose commented, already turning to the sound of screaming.

"I know." And then they were running back into the fray.

/*/

"You're too late," Rosanna said. The Doctor turned from the throne he'd been examining. Rose stopped prodding the controls as well and turned to the alien.

"Such determination, just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

Rose was tempted to interrupt, but stayed behind and prodded the chair some more.

"The girls have gone, Rosanna," the Doctor said.

Rosanna stepped back, clearly upset. "You're lying," she accused.

"Shouldn't I be dead, hmm? Rosanna, please, help me. There are two hundred thousand people in this city," he shouted after as she turned to run from the room.

"So save them," she challenged, not even looking back.

The chair made a weird noise then. "I swear, it wasn't me," Rose said, stepping back.

The Doctor sonicked it, but was distracted by the sound of thunder outside.

"Keep prodding it!" he yelled as he, too, ran from the room.

Rose tried to find the controls, but the whole chair was like one big control panel, and she had no clue which buttons to push and which wires to cut.

Barely a minute later, the Doctor ran in from one side as Amy and Rory came in from another.

"Get out, I need to stabilize the storm," the Doctor said, running up to the chair I was still working on.

"We're not leaving you!" Rory said with conviction.

"Right, so one minute it's all you make people a danger to themselves, and the next it's we're not leaving you. But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets the-"

Suddenly the whole house shook, and knocked all of them to the ground.

"What was that?" Rory asked from where he lay on his back.

"Nothing. Bit of an earthquake."

"An earthquake?" Amy shouted.

The Doctor went into teacher mode again. "Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes. But don't worry about them."

"No?" Rose asked, a bit amused.

"No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake. Right, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the programme, so, tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator," the Doctor babbled.

He made to run out of the room again while Amy and Rory got started on the throne, but Rose caught his arm and spun him around to kiss him. She didn't much care for this distance he was putting up, and while she still had no clue as to why, and they had loads to sort out, she still wanted to show him she loved him.

It barely lasted a second, but that was enough for now. They had work to do. "The stuff of legends, yeah?" she told him breathlessly.

He seemed a little dazed. "Yeah," he muttered, and dashed off.

Now… Rose rubbed her hands together gleefully. She had a throne to destroy.

**A/N: Chapter 6 will be the last part of The Vampires of Venice. I've changed Amy's Choice completely around, so it really should be called Rose's Choice. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'd love to hear your feedback!**

**Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know, a day early!  
There's a bit of a jump to the very end of the episode. I hope you'll enjoy!**

**Huge thanks to 'thereadingturtle', 'Miss Moria' and 'MirrorFlower and DarkWind' for reviewing! You guys are amazing!**

**Not betaed, and Doctor Who isn't mine :'(**

**Chapter 6:**

The storm had passed and Rosanna had killed herself, and all was well with the world as the four travellers stood back on the square they'd left the TARDIS at.

The Doctor was talking to Amy and Rory about something or other. It seemed Rory would stay on as a permanent companion. Hopefully that would temper Amy's tendency to flirt a little.

Rose wasn't paying much attention, however. As the others got back into the TARDIS, she felt like there was something she should be waiting for.

Her feeling was proven correct when, after a big flash, Jack appeared with Guido and Isabella in tow. The latter hissed at all the light and quickly ran to the nearest shadows.

"Oops," Jack said. "Must've overshot it. I was aiming for the middle of the fray."

Rose grinned and launched herself into her friend's arms. "I missed you!"

"I'd return the feeling, but I just saw you yesterday, so I'm not sure it applies."

Rose pulled back and grinned. "See a lot of me, do you?" she teased, staying in his arms.

Jack grinned back and flicked her nose. "You know I can't tell you, you minx."

That's when the Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS. "Rose are you-" he stopped himself as he saw her encircled in Jack's arms. "Jack, you came back."

Jack smirked, and tightened his arms around Rose, even as she tried to wiggle out of them. "Yup. Always do for my Rosie," he replied. Rose rolled her eyes. Those two should just drop their pants and compare already. Actually, that might not be such a bad idea…

"Guido?" the Doctor shouted, looking over at the man in question. The Venetian was standing by his daughter, doing his best to shield her from the sunlight.

"Oh, right, you need to fix her," Jack said, finally releasing Rose. The blonde made an annoyed noise and jogged over to the girl and her father, offering what assurances she could.

When she was out of hearing distance, Jack rounded on the Doctor. "Listen Doc, I like you, but I like Rose better, so I'm only saying this once. Get your head out of your arse and accept that she's here, and that she's here to stay," he said, poking the Doctor in the chest for emphasis.

"What are you on about?" the Doctor asked, rubbing his chest.

"You're treating her like crap, and you know it," Jack said. "You're pushing her away and then pulling her back, getting jealous at me while that girl only has eyes for you. Trust me, I've tried."

The Doctor looked over to where Rose was consoling Isabella in her usual gentle way.

"You have no idea what she went through to get back to you. _Again_," Jack continued, his eyes on Rose as well. The Doctor frowned. "Have you even asked her what happened in that parallel world to make her want to come back here?" Jack pressed, even though he already knew the answer.

"The Bad Wolf-" the Doctor started, but Jack interrupted him.

"Didn't she tell you that the Bad Wolf can't do anything she doesn't want it to? Had she not wanted to leave that other world, she wouldn't have."

The Doctor didn't get time to mull that over, though, as Rose jogged back over. "I think she's going through withdrawal, or something," she said, her face lines with concern. "You can help her, can't you Doctor?" she implored, her brown eyes as wide and puppy-like as she could make them.

"Of course, I'll just…" he trailed off and wandered over to the distraught almost-vampire girl, leaving Jack and Rose by themselves.

"I guess you're not staying," Rose said, linking her arm through his and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Nah, I can't. I have to get back to my team in Cardiff. Besides, you've got to talk it out with the Doctor, and my being there isn't going to help any," he said, pushing some stray hairs behind her ear.

"I don't think the Doctor wants to talk to me," Rose said, pushing back from him and shoving back her hair.

"Ah, Rosie, don't be too hard on him. He's had to lose you twice now. I don't think he really gets that you're here to stay this time around." Jack gave her a gentle push towards where the Doctor was sonicking Isabella. "Go on, talk to him."

Rose tried to resist, but Jack was insistent. "What am I supposed to say to him?" But by then she'd reached the Doctor, and Jack had pulled Guido apart to talk.

"Hi," Rose said, breathlessly.

"Hello," the Doctor responded, a little bemused.

Rose quickly untied one of the many skirts of her dress and draped it over Isabella's head. "That should help with the sun for now," she said with a gentle smile. Isabella bowed her head in thanks and went to join her father, sticking to the shadows as she went.

Rose knew the Doctor didn't want to have this conversation – and really, neither did she – but she knew they had to.

"We saved the day again," she commented, walking over to the TARDIS with him.

"Isabella should go back to normal by herself now that the transfusions have stopped. I gave her a restorative pill just in case, though."

Rose nodded. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject. "I guess we'll go back to travelling now…"

"Yes, I suppose we will."

Rose stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Doctor?"

The Doctor stopped and finally looked at her.

"Have you been avoiding me for a reason?" she asked, deciding it would be best to ask outright.

The Doctor didn't respond, and stared at his shoes. Rose put a hand on his cheek. "Doctor? Don't you want me to stay anymore?" she asked in a small voice. That was her main concern at the moment; what if he didn't want her anymore?

The Doctor's eyes snapped up to hers, and he covered her hand with his. "Always, I always want you to stay," he assured her in a whisper.

"Then what is it? Why do you keep pushing me away?" When it looked like he wasn't going to answer anymore, Rose lost her patience. "Tell me!" she shouted.

"I can't lose you again!" the Doctor shouted back. Stunned silence settled between the two as the meaning of those words sunk in. "I've lost you twice already, Rose, and it nearly undid me. The things I did… I can't lose you again…" he whispered in such a broken voice that Rose couldn't help pulling him closer and hugging him.

"You're so afraid of the pain that you might feel that you're afraid to live, Doctor," she said, and pulled back. "But I felt that pain too. I was left on a deserted beach in Norway twice, once by myself, and once with someone who looked like you, but wasn't." The Doctor looked pained at this, but refused to look her in the eyes. "When all I wanted was you."

He kissed her then. It wasn't sweet or passionate, but filled with pain and longing. And then he was gone. Rose opened her eyes to find that the Doctor had once again pulled back, and had crawled back into his shell. Rose fought a frustrated sigh. She was starting to wonder if the Doctor would ever open up to her.

"I suppose that means you don't want to talk about it now?" she asked, but the Doctor wasn't looking at her. He was looking around with a peculiar look on his face, as if he was working out a particularly hard puzzle, but wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

Rose took a moment to really listen. The Doctor usually didn't ask something without a good reason. "The silence… it's so quiet all of a sudden…" she said, looking around now, too.

"Doctor are you coming or not?" Amy called from the TARDIS, but her voice had a strange echo-like quality to it. If the redhead had noticed it, though, she didn't show it.

"On our way," the Doctor replied distractedly, and walked over to the ship, still lost in thought.

Something was not quite right here, Rose knew, and whatever it was would catch up to them soon enough.

**A/N: Little short, I know, but this was really the only place to cut it short. Next episode: Rose's Choice! It'll be up next Thursday!**

**Review, please! I really love all your feedback and it makes my day!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, I got this up just in time! I've been really busy with school lately, so I haven't written anything. I'll do my best to catch up on some of the work this weekend, but I make no promises.**

**Amy's Choice! Are you guys as excited as me? I changed this episode all the way around, so be warned! And have fun!  
Also, this chapter is dedicated to my best American friend MaryEvH, because I know she'll love this!**

**Chapter 7:**

The Doctor was sticking his head out of the TARDIS doors while Rose pushed a few buttons on the console to keep her from wandering back into the vortex.

"Ready, love?" Rose asked cheerfully as she joined him by the doors.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's still not Naples," he said apologetically.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Did you really think that if I believed this to be Naples, I'd be wearing jeans and an Elvis Presley t-shirt?" she asked, stepping out and nearly tripping over the flower bed they'd landed in.

"Rory!" the Doctor called out as he exited the TARDIS, and promptly stumbled over the same stones Rose had, earlier.

"Doctor!" Rory called back, a little less enthusiastically.

"I've crushed your flowers," the Doctor stated, only a tiny bit apologetic.

Rose ran over and hugged Rory. "Oh, Amy will kill you. Hello, Rose," he said, returning the hug.

"Where is she?" the Doctor asked, trying to look over Rory's shoulder to the quaint little house behind him.

"She'll need a bit longer," Rory replied, letting go of Rose. "You look nice. Been chasing lots of aliens lately?"

Rose smiled and shrugged. "No more than usual. It's not life with the Doctor if there's no running involved."

"Whenever you're ready, Amy," the Doctor shouted. Rose walked over and slapped him for being rude. She made up for it by cuddling into his side, though.

That's when Amy came waddling out of the house. And it really was waddling; she must've been 8 or 9 months pregnant by the looks of things.

The Doctor opened his mouth, no doubt to say something rude, so Rose stepped forward and hugged Amy first. "You look wonderful! How far along are you?"

"You've swallowed a planet!" the Doctor exclaimed anyway. He really was incorrigible, no matter how hard Rose tried.

"Eight and a half months," Amy replied, smiling hugely.

Rose stepped back to let the Doctor take a proper look and really start babbling. The subject brought Rose's own hand to her abdomen. She hadn't told the Doctor yet, but what with their jailbreak two days ago and the saving of the Kurstoonian empire just yesterday, she really hadn't found the time.

When the Doctor failed to acknowledge Amy's pregnancy and just kept going on about how huge she was, Rose elbowed him. "She's pregnant, Doctor."

"I knew that," the Doctor replied, allowing Rose to pull him closer again. Rose just rolled her eyes again and let Amy lead them into the house.

As they settled down into the living room, Rose began to worry that the Doctor had forgotten, so while Rory went to get the tea, she decided to broach the subject.

"So, Doctor, don't you have anything to say to me today?" she pressed, nudging him gently on the shoulder. The Doctor looked dumbfounded. "On this… really special day?" Rose prodded, her worry deepening.

The Doctor looked a bit panicky now. "Happy birth-" He stopped talking at her glare, thankfully.

"You're telling me you forgot?" she shouted, putting her hands in her side.

The Doctor held his hands up in surrender, but Rose was a little fed up with him right now. As Rory entered the room with the tea tray, Rose stormed out of the house. Hopefully a walk would calm her enough not to want to throttle the Doctor anymore.

It would only take about two minutes before she started feeling dizzy and sat down on a bench, and closed her eyes for just a minute…

/*/

Rose started awake. She shook her head and took in her surroundings.

"You alright, Rosie?" Jack asked from across the desk.

It took a moment for Rose to realize that she was at the Torchwood hub, seated behind her desk. She must've fallen asleep while working on reports.

"Fine, I just fell asleep, that's all," she reassured him. Tosh and Gwen were playing a game in a corner of the room, and Ianto and Owen were arguing over by the coffee machine.

"You were dreaming again, weren't you?" Jack asked, rolling his chair over. "What was it about?"

Rose rolled her shoulders and settled her hand on her still smallish baby bump. "Same thing as usual: the Doctor… But it was weird, it felt _so_ real. We were visiting Amy and Rory, and the Doctor had forgotten…" she trailed off, frowning to herself.

"Forgotten what?"

"What's the date today?" Rose asked suddenly, checking her watch herself. "It's 26 June… it's our anniversary," she muttered, looking at the wedding ring she hadn't been able to take off yet.

Jack put an arm around her. "It's normal to get those kinds of dreams on a special day, Rose, it'll be alright," he whispered, hugging her closer.

Ianto walked over with a sour expression on his face. Without a word, he took a chair and sat down at Jack's computer, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving.

Rose was about to ask what was wrong when she heard something really weird. "Can anyone else hear that?" she asked, looking around.

"Hear what?"

"Birdsong." Rose barely had time to put her head back on her desk before she drifted off…

/*/

As Rose woke up again, she knew something was wrong. Time to find the Doctor. Thankfully Leadworth was tiny, so it didn't take her very long to find the others, and they seemed a little confused themselves.

"Rose!" the Doctor called out as soon as he spotted her, and ran over. Despite their argument earlier, he enveloped her in a hug, which she desperately returned.

"This is probably a weird question, but did you just fall asleep for a few minutes?" Rose asked, pulling back.

"Yes, we woke up on the TARDIS, where were you?" he asked, frowning at her.

"At Torchwood with Jack. I'd left you after an argument…" Rose said, thinking back, but the dream was already fading.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Rory asked, getting up from the bench he'd been sitting on. The Doctor dashed off to inspect a pebble with the sonic.

Amy waddled over as well. "Is this because of you? Is this some Time Lord-y thing because you've shown up again?"

"Listen to me, trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel," the Doctor said, coming back over.

"But we're awake now," Rory pointed out.

"Yeah, you thought you were awake on the TARDIS too," the Doctor countered.

Amy frowned at that. "But we're home."

"Yeah, you're home. You're also dreaming. Trouble is; which is which? Are we flashing forwards or backwards?"

"But that other reality can't be real," Rose argued.

"Why not?"

"Because in that one I left you, and I'd never do that!" Rose said vehemently, grabbing hold of his hand.

The Doctor smiled at her sadly, and it became painfully clear to Rose which reality he thought was real.

"Hold on tight, this is going to be a tricky one," he said, before they began dozing off again.

/*/

"Rose? Rose, are you awake?"

Rose sat up suddenly, wide awake. "I'm fine, Owen," she told the doctor, "but I'm going to need a phone. Now!"

/*/

"If the TARDIS is dead, then what's ringing?" Rory questioned, as the Doctor continued to dash around the console.

Amy patted her pockets and came up with her phone, which, incidentally, was the thing that was ringing. She checked the screen, but didn't recognise the number. "Hello?"

"Give me the Doctor, now," Rose's voice came through the phone. Amy wasn't as startled to hear the blonde's voice as she should be, considering she'd stopped travelling with them months ago.

"Doctor, it's Rose," she said, handing the phone over.

The Doctor stopped in his mad dash and stared at the tiny piece of earth technology. It was like he was afraid to hear what Rose would have to say. He took it eventually and held it to his ear. In the other reality, Rose had said that she was at Torchwood with Jack, though the Rose from this reality had never told him where she was going when she left.

"Doctor?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'm here," he replied quietly.

"I'm guessing you three have been having dreams about another reality too, huh?" she asked. There was a noise in the background, and Jack's shouted apology reached the Doctor's ears.

"Yeah, we're trying to figure out which reality is the real one."

"They both feel real, though. Can you come pick me up? I think we should be together for this one," she suggested, uncertainty and fear lurking in her tone.

"I can't, the TARDIS isn't responding."

"Have you tried asking nicely instead of whacking her with that hammer?" she teased, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they had never made up after their fight. Why had he given up on her, why had he let her go?

"She's dead, Rose."

"Like when we were in Pete's world dead, or actually dead?" she asked.

In the background, Jack shouted a question, and Rose shouted back that she was talking about the TARDIS.

"I'm not sure, I-" he paused, hearing something he definitely shouldn't be hearing on the TARDIS.

"Are you hearing birds too?" Rose asked.

The Doctor filed that away for now and turned to Amy and Rory. "Remember, this is real. And when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels!" the Doctor urged them.

He barely heard Amy's reply: "It is real, I know it's real!"

/*/

When Rose woke up in the other world, lying on the gravel, the first thing she did after getting up was smack a tweed covered shoulder.

"Oi! What was that for?" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Why did you tell them the other world was real?" she countered, both eyebrows raised in a fashion that she had definitely learned from his tenth incarnation.

He didn't answer right away, but he didn't need to, Rose could read it in his eyes. "You think the other world is the real one?" she asked in a small voice. Once again, he didn't answer, and once again, Rose knew what he thought. She sighed in frustration and hurt and turned away from him.

"Think about it, Rose, Rory's a doctor here, he has the wife of his dreams, the house of his dreams…"

Rose whirled on him. "This isn't about Rory, Doctor, and you know it! This is about you being unable to accept that you can be happy… that you can be happy with _me_!" she shouted, hating her eyes for tearing up. "Are you really so pessimistic that you can't accept that you and I are married? That the universe would be so kind as to give you another chance at a family?"

The Doctor frowned, having heard the double meaning behind that last bit. "What do you mean 'another chance at a family'?"

Rose rubbed her forehead tiredly and refused to look at him. "Congratulations, Doctor, you're going to be a father."

The Doctor ignored Amy and Rory's exclamations and pulled Rose into an embrace. "Don't you see, Rose? That's impossible. This world isn't real," he murmured.

Rose pulled back. "Wrong again, Doctor. I'm pregnant in the other reality too."

**A/N: Review! Tell me if you like what I'm doing to this poor, poor episode!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm so sorry! I know, I promised Thursday, but I completely forgot! I've been so busy lately...  
Here it is anyway! Thanks to all the reviewers/people who favourited/alerted, you make my day! And a big thanks to my friend MaryEvH for getting me through my writer's block. Think you could do it again?**

**Disclaimer: not mine!**

**Chapter 8:**

The next time they fell asleep, they were in the old people's home where Rory worked.

Rose jerked awake, her hand automatically reaching for her abdomen. She was in the med bay at Torchwood, and Owen was standing over her. Jack was pacing near the door, and Tosh could be seen behind her computers.

"Rose!" Jack shouted, jumping down the stairs and running to her side. "What happened? Owen can't find anything wrong with you, and it's the second time you've-" he started, but Rose cut him off before he could get into full ranting mode.

"It's fine, Jack. The Doctor's going through a similar…" She trailed off as she saw someone in the doorway that she didn't recognise. "Who are you?" she asked quietly, narrowing her eyes at him.

Jack frowned at Rose in confusion, before turning around to follow her gaze. "Who are you talking to?"

But Rose wasn't listening, she kept staring at the man. He tipped his imaginary hat and went down the stairs into the med bay. "They can't see me, Rose Tyler," he said with a smile that was a little too close to a smirk for Rose's tastes.

"Who are you?" she asked. Jack and Owen were looking at her like she was crazy. Well, who knew, she just might be. She did think she was dreaming all of this anyway.

"Seeing as your boyfriend's the Time Lord, let's just call me the Dream Lord, shall we?" he replied, leaning casually against the wall.

Rose raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Dream Lord? Isn't that pretentious?" she asked, sitting up on the med table.

"Isn't 'Time Lord'? Or 'Bad Wolf' for that matter?"

Rose pursed her lips and glared at him. Then, she shrugged. "Okay, point taken. Why are you here, and what's going on?"

Owen opened his mouth, probably to utter another of his idiotic comments, but Jack shushed him, eyes intent on Rose.

"I've seen your dreams, Rose Tyler. Tell me, do you even remember a time when they weren't nightmares?" he asked, disappearing from where he stood and appearing sat on the end of the med table.

Rose whipped around, narrowing her eyes at him, even as her most recent nightmares floated around in her head. She didn't answer him. "You didn't answer my question," she practically growled. Jack looked tensed, as if ready to jump at the Dream Lord, even though he couldn't see him.

The Dream Lord shrugged. "Well, fine, if you're not going to play… Here's your challenge: Two worlds; one here in Torchwood, or the Tardis in the Doctor's case, and two in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real." He smirked nastily, and Rose got the distinct impression that he was enjoying the discomfort he put his victims through.

She frowned at him. "Why are you doing this?" she asked suspiciously. "Say that we figure it out, or even that we don't, what do you gain from it?"

The Dream Lord only grinned, evilly, she might add. "Tweet, tweet, time to sleep," he said. Rose looked up reflexively as she heard birdsong again.

"Oh, or are you waking up?" he added, as Rose slumped back on the bed.

/*/  
Amy gained another point in Rose's book when she faked contractions after the Doctor called her life dull, and turned both men white as sheets.

Rose, having actually seen her mum give birth, had had a suspicion that it wasn't real.

The old people in the Leadworth universe – as Rose had dubbed it – were acting odd. When they had woken up in the old people's home, they had all disappeared, and now, in the playground, Mrs. Poggit was watching a bunch of children with far too much intensity.

"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room," the Doctor was saying, and Rose had to smother a grin, even as she rolled her eyes at his choice of words.  
"I have to be this size, I'm having a baby!" Amy had apparently also gotten it.  
"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail? You hold him down, I'll cut it off?" the Doctor said to Amy. He was only half-joking, Rose was sure.  
"This from the man in the bow tie," Rory countered.  
"Bow ties are cool," the Doctor replied. Suddenly, he got up from the swings we'd been sitting on, and took a few steps, his eyes intent on something near the ruins. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs Poggit as a babysitter. What's she doing? What does she want?" the Doctor said, staring at the old lady as she followed the group of children to the old castle.  
Birds were chirping again, and Rose quickly sat down on the grass, not wanting any more bruises than she already had.  
"Oh, no. Here we go." Amy voiced Rose's thoughts exactly.

/*/

"And you've never seen this alien before?" Tosh asked curiously as Ianto handed Rose a cup of tea. Rose sighed happily as she breathed in the hot steam. Ianto was nearly as good as her mum when it came to making tea.

"No, I'm sure I haven't, but he seemed to know the Doctor, though," she replied thoughtfully. It was weird; she got the feeling the Doctor knew who their adversary was, but they didn't act like they had met before.

"Any ideas on the threat?" Jack asked, accepting a cup of coffee.

Rose shrugged. "I don't know, could be anything. We haven't figured it out in the other reality either, but I think it's something to do with the old people."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Old people? Wow, that's so frightening."

Rose glared. "They weren't just old people. Well, I don't think they were. Could be aliens in disguise, or aliens taking over human bodies…" she trailed off. It did sound a bit ridiculous when she said it out loud.

Did that mean that the other universe was the fake one? She didn't think so, but then again… Maybe she was just hoping that one was real because living like this, living without the Doctor… she didn't think she could do it for very much longer. She knew the only reason she was still going here was because of the baby and because she knew that if she died the Doctor would never forgive himself.

Rose sighed and rubbed her eyes, suddenly very tired. A hand on her shoulder. She looked up into stormy blue eyes. Jack understood. He might've been the eternal flirt, and not all too serious most of the time, but he'd lived longer than even she had, and he _understood_.

"I'm okay, I just… I should call Amy again," she said, deliberately not saying 'Doctor'.

Silently, Ianto handed her back her phone an herded everyone but Jack out, even if Owen protested.

She pressed the speeddial, but her phone beeped. Rose frowned and glanced at the screen. No bars. "But that's impossible…" she muttered, shutting her phone off and turning it back on again.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"I don't have any bars, but that can't be. I stood on a satellite watching the Earth burn and I could still call mum 5 billion years ago. I _can't_ have no bars," she replied, frustrated. She still couldn't get a connection.

Jack frowned, taking the phone from Rose just as an alarms started blaring. They locked eyes for a moment, before jumping up and racing back to the main hub. Tosh was frantically typing on her computers, and Owen was looking at readouts on another monitor and Ianto was hovering anxiously.

"What's going on?" Jack shouted as he and Rose arrived into the room.

"I don't know, it's not responding to anything!" Tosh replied, banging her fist against one of her precious computers.

"Have you tried pulling the plug?" Rose shouted over the noise. It really was deafening.

Tosh shook her head. "I can't so that, we'd be locked in, and we might lose several essential systems!"

"Tosh, do it! That's an order!" Jack screamed, his hands on his ears.

The scientist hesitated, so Ianto stepped forward and started pulling plugs, quickly joined by Owen and Rose.

The alarms cut off abruptly, along with the lights. Rose fished a small flashlight from her pocket and saw Jack do the same.

"Well, whatever it was, it's stopped now." The words hadn't been out of his mouth two seconds, before every screen lit up and a clock appeared on them. Red numbers showed a number that started counting down, every second emphasized by a loud tick. They all fell quiet, fearful of what this might mean.

"What is that counting down to?" Tosh managed, her voice small in the huge room.

/*/

Rose awoke with a start. She hadn't heard birdsong, but that might be because the Dream Lord had a flair for the dramatic. She got up and brushed the grass off of her pants and glanced over at her companions. They were all still out cold.

She frowned as she knelt next to the Doctor, so far they'd always woken up at the same time. She leaned over him and cupped his cheek, but he didn't react. Normally when they were in bed together and she'd do that – the few times he actually slept – he always woke up. Her memories of both realities were all muddled together, so she wasn't sure if that was from this life or the other. She didn't care. She needed this reality to be real. If it wasn't…

Getting up abruptly, she walked over to where they'd last seen Mrs Poggit. The grassy square was deserted.

Rose took a few more steps forward, glancing at the little piles of dust that were strew all over the square. Crouching next to one, she took some of it between her fingers and –in true 10th Doctor fashion – smelled it. She wouldn't go so far as to lick it, but it was a start. In the years before she'd found the Doctor again, she'd learned to trust both her instinct and her senses, they'd saved her life more than once.

"Rose!" The Doctor's anxious shout echoed through the quiet village. Rose stayed where she was frowning at the dust in her hands. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what it was, but she was still holding out hope that she was wrong.

"I'm here, Doctor!" she called back.

The trio came running up the stairs and joined her. While Rory and Amy were arguing over which reality was the real one, the Doctor knelt by Rose and examined the dust himself. "Playtime is definitely over," he muttered.

Amy and Rory finally realized what was going on. The piles of dust _were_ the children. "What happened to them?" Rory asked, more than a little unsettled.

Rose saw movement from the corner of her eye and turned to see a whole group of senior citizens walking into the playground.

She walked over to the low wall of the ruin, quickly joined by the Doctor. "I think they did," he said. Without taking his eyes off the advancing group, he took Rose's hand in his.

Suddenly, he dashed down the stairs, dragging Rose with him. "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."

The Doctor released Rose's hand, striding confidently towards the group of old people.

"Hello, peasants!" the Dream Lord called out, appearing next to the castle wall. The Doctor ignored him. "What's this? Attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Rose? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the Tardis. You first," he said, smirking in her direction. She scowled back.

"Leave her alone," the Doctor growled in a low voice, finally acknowledging the Dream Lord.

The Dream Lord and the Time Lord stood very close together, the Doctor glowering, the Dream Lord smirking. "Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall, dark hero. 'Leave her alone!'" he mimicked.

"Just leave her," he said, stepping closer, if possible, and looming over the shorter man. The Dream Lord focussed his eyes on Rose, and she set her shoulders in response, tensing up for a fight, even though she knew he couldn't touch her.

"Yes, you're not quite as impressive as I'd hoped, Bad Wolf," he taunted, his eyes boring into her. "But I know all your little secrets, don't I, Rose Tyler? All the little secrets that have yet to be revealed." He stepped away from the Doctor and advanced on her.

"Shut up!" Rose spat, anger and fear flaring up inside of her. "Just shut up and leave me alone!"

"Tell me, Rose, what was it like, watching him whither and age? I can only imagine how relieved you were when he finally died and set you free-"

He never got to finish his sentence as Rose had already swung her fist at him. He vanished before she could connect, though, and reappeared behind the Doctor.

"Whew, she's got a mean swing there, Doctor, though I suppose that's why you took her, wasn't it? She's feisty."

"Drop it. Drop all of it. I know who you are," the Doctor interjected.

"Course you don't."

"Course I do. No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do."

Rose came to stand next to the Doctor. "You sure about that, Doctor? Because I can think of a few that don't look like him in the slightest."

The Dream Lord ignored my comment and grinned maliciously. "Never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them," he said with a barely perceptible nod to the old people.

Rose had forgotten about them during the confrontation. The Dream Lord vanished and the foursome focused back on the threat ahead. Exactly what kind of threat they were, Rose had no idea, but she was tensed and ready to run.

The boys actually tried talking to the seniors, but when one of them grabbed Rory and threw him all the way to the swing set, Rose knew they were in trouble.

**A/N: Seriously, this episode has been such a b*tch to write! But I'm managing! Review to encourage!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I think I'm going to go run and hide before any of you finish this chapter, I fear for my safety.**

**Okay, first of all; don't tell me anything about the 50th, I haven't seen it, and I probably won't until after X-mas break, since I'm still at season 6. Second of all, next Thursday my exams start, so I'll try to update Wednesday, but I won't be able to until the 19th after that, so don't shoot me because I missed a week. I promise I'll update next week, though, as I don't think a lot of you would be willing to leave me alive for very long after that.**

**Thanks to all you reviewers/alerters/favouriters (I know those aren't actually words^^). 217 followers?! 64 reviews! You guys are awesome! I try to reply to every single one of you, and I don't think I missed one, but if I did, I'm sorry, and I still appreciate your review! You guys make my day!**

**Chapter 9:**

_The Dream Lord ignored Rose's comment and grinned maliciously. "Never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them," he said with a barely perceptible nod to the old people._

_Rose had forgotten about them during the confrontation. The Dream Lord vanished and the foursome focussed back on the threat ahead. Exactly what kind of threat they were, Rose had no idea, but she was tensed and ready to run._

_The boys actually tried talking to the seniors, but when one of them grabbed Rory and threw him all the way to the swing set, Rose knew they were in trouble._

"How did he do that?!" Rory exclaimed, climbing to his feet.

"I suspect he's not himself. Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run, fast," the Doctor said, slipping his hand into Rose's again. It seemed to be an unconscious reaction, but it was a welcome one on her part.  
Amy put her hands on her stomach, clearly unable to run fast, as the Doctor suggested. "Can't we just talk to them?" she tried, probably knowing the answer to that question.

The Doctor never got a chance to reply, as all the old people opened their mouths to… eyes. There were bloody eyes in their bloody mouths! Couldn't old people just be old people for once? Rose wondered.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver – and Rose really did miss the blue one – and scanned the old lady. "There's a whole creature inside of her. Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."

"That's disgusting. They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?" Rory asked, a little green in the face.

All of a sudden, Mrs Poggit breathed out a stream of green gas, and they all jumped back. The Doctor told Amy, Rory and Rose to run, but only the Ponds did. If the Doctor hadn't learned by now that Rose never listened, he was never going to.

He tried to talk to them, offering them a second chance, as he always did, but they refused. "Now we will do the same to others," the one inside Mrs Poggit said as she told of what had befallen her race.

"Okay, makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough, could be real," he muttered to himself, not taking his eyes off the creatures.

Rose herself was distracted, though, by a postman in an orange jacket. He only had time to say 'good morning' before Mrs Poggit breathed the green mist on him. Rose yelled as the man instantly turned to dust. She was only vaguely aware of the Doctor grabbing her hand and squeezing it. Another death, she'd seen so much already, couldn't it just stop already?

"You need to leave this planet," the Doctor was saying, glaring menacingly at the old people.

They just bared their… eyeballs…?

Rose shook her head and set off running in the direction Amy and Roy had gone. "I'm going to find them, slow them down!" she yelled back at the Doctor.

"Slow them down? With what?" he yelled back as he set off the opposite direction.

"Your amazing wit?"

"No need to sound sarcastic!" Rose could barely hear him, but was greatly buoyed by the easy banter. She still needed to figure out what was going on with the Doctor, and vowed to herself that she would once this adventure was over. That man might be one of the most stubborn creatures in the universe, but Rose Marion Tyler was definitely worse!

She got to the Ponds' house just as Rory was closing the door, darting around an old Lady as she did. "Open up!" she shouted, and fled inside quickly. Rory slid the various locks in place as Rose caught her breath.

"We just ran away. We just abandoned the Doctor. Don't ever call me Chubs again. We don't see him for years, and somehow we don't really connect any more, and then, then he takes the bullet for us," Amy said, sitting down on the stairs.

Rose straightened up and checked the windows, leaving it to Amy's better half to reassure her. They really had no time for this now. But just as she was moving an armchair in front of the door, she heard the birds again. "Oh, bloody hell," she muttered, just before her eyes fell closed.

/*/

The minute she'd woken, she'd been accosted by Jack and Owen, while Tosh was furiously searching the systems for a way out of this mess.

"Shut up and hand me my phone!" she shouted, now thoroughly annoyed. This Dream Lord had better watch out, because the Bad Wolf was stirring, and she was _not_ happy.

Jack handed it to her, but it was hooked up to a bunch of wires that connected to the big metal thingy that Rose had never bothered to name before. She raised an eyebrow at Ianto, who was still hooking them up, but he just shrugged. "Worked to patch through to the outside last time."

Rose nodded and dialled the now familiar number.

"Rose?" Amy's voice came through as someone finally picked up the phone.

"Put me on speaker," Rose commanded, and waited for the tell-tale click. "The mortal peril on this side is a bomb."

"We think!" Jack added, stepping next to her. Rose put her own mobile on speaker.

"Ice star," Amy replied. "Tardis is dead, and we're about to crash into an ice star."

"Lovely," Rose commented sarcastically.

"Right!" the Doctor interjected. "We need to figure out which universe is the dream, now."

"It's this one," Rory and Rose said at the same time as Amy and the Doctor said: "The other one."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, that's helpful."

"Oh, shut up, Jack," the Doctor said with more venom than was strictly necessary.

"You said that the other universe was plausible, Doctor," Rose said, trying to ignore the stab of hurt she felt as the Doctor once again wrote off the relationship they had in Leadworth as a dream.

"Well, true, but so's this one," he countered.

"Well, at least if we're going to die, we'll die arguing over realities," Amy commented sarcastically.

"We're not going to die," Rory said, with such quiet confidence, Rose couldn't help but believe him.

Tosh motioned for Jack to come look at something, and Rose bit her nail as she looked at the number on the screens. They had a little less than 10 minutes left…

"No, we're not, but our time's running out. If we fall asleep here we're in trouble. If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why? Why? what's the logic?" the Doctor said, no doubt pacing all over the console.

"Good idea, veggie. Let's divide you four up even more, so I can have a little chat with our lovely ex-companion. Maybe I'll keep her, and you can have Pointy Nose and Red to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality." The voice of the Dream Lord sounded echo-y, and Rose whipped around as she realized that he was on both sides of the connection. He stood, leaning casually against the railing behind Rose, smirking for all he was worth.

Rose wanted to glare at him, but suddenly realized that something was wrong. It was too quiet. She turned back around, but none of her friends were left. Jack, Ianto, Tosh and Owen were all on the ground.

"What have you done to them?" she screamed, advancing on the Dream Lord.

"Seemed only fair that if the golden trio had to work things out alone, so could you," he answered, smirk unwavering. Rose glanced over again, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Owen's chest move.

"Rose? What's going on?" the Doctor called, while Rory's voice sounded in the background. "I hear birds again."

"No, please don't leave me!" Rose yelled into the phone, desperate to keep some form of contact, with anyone.

"Rose, don't–" the Doctor started, but suddenly, the connection was cut off. She had no idea what was happening to them now.

"we're going to have fun, aren't we?" the Dream Lord said, stepping closer.

"I don't want to be alone…" Rose whispered, but there was no one friendly left to hear her.

/*/

It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to come back and have her happily ever after with her Doctor, but _noooo_, the universe couldn't even grant her that, even after everything she'd been through.

She was alone, left staring at the countdown on the screens. She'd tried everything, but Tosh was the computer genius, not her. Even Mickey would've done better than her… God, Mickey. He was somewhere out there, in this universe, living his life…

"Poor Rose. He always leaves you, doesn't he, alone in the dark. Never apologises." The Dream Lord appeared next to her, but she largely ignored him.

"He doesn't have to. Never with me."

"That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not to be trusted me. Anything could happen…" Rose didn't respond, but stared at the phone in her hand. It was pink, like a lot of her possessions, and had a snowflake charm on it that John had gotten her. It just served to make her more sad now.

"How many times is this, though? Let's see: he tried to send you home on the Game Station, but you came back. He sent you to another universe, but you came back. You _fell_ into another universe, but you came back. He sent you back there with a human copy of himself as a plaything, but you came back… Notice a pattern there?" he commented.

Rose clenched her jaw, but refused to give him the satisfaction. The Doctor wasn't like that.

"And now he's giving you the cold shoulder. Left you here alone, quite literally, in this universe. What was that argument about again?"

"Everything," Rose finally whispered, still staring at the phone. It still showed no signs of life.

The Dream Lord smirked even wider. "He thinks you left because of that, but we both know that's not the real reason, is it? You were afraid of seeing that look of horror on his face if you told him about the little Tyler on the way. He wouldn't be able to live with it, would he? To live with you, and do domestics…"

Rose finally looked up, her eyes resigned now. "What's your problem? I mean, aside from being a control freak and having some sort of feud going on with the Doctor. It's almost like you're an evil him, only that he doesn't like to play games."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? All he does is manipulate people, Rose. I think you'll find that the Doctor actually really likes playing games…"

/*/

As soon as the Dream Lord had disappeared, Rose had jumped up and dialled an all too familiar number. A number she hadn't dialled in a long time.

"Smith," the voice on the other side said, and Rose could've cried.

"Hello, Mickey," she replied, a touch sadly.

There was a pause on the other end, the only thing she heard was a quickly drawn in breath. "Rose?" he asked, almost warily.

"It's me," she confirmed with a smile, even though he couldn't see. "Listen, I don't have a lot of time, and I need your help…"

/*/

As she started awake yet again, Rose was exceedingly grateful that she'd told Mickey about the falling asleep thing.

Rory and Amy were facing each other, the former holding scissors and his ponytail in his hands, just as the Doctor climbed in.

"How'd I get up here?" Rose asked, sitting up and making room for the Doctor.

"I carried you, Amy barred the doors."

"Rose," the Doctor breathed, and pulled her into an embrace. She was a little surprised, but didn't complain, clinging to him to dispel the uneasy thoughts she'd had in the other universe.

"What are we going to do?" Rory asked as the couple released each other. She got up and stretched her legs.

"I don't know. I thought the freezing Tardis was real but now I'm not so sure…" the Doctor replied, glancing out the window.

Rose stopped and stared at him. _Now_ he could accept that the reality in which they were married and happy was real?

"Why are they so desperate to kill us?" Rory asked, getting up as well.

"They're scared. Fear generates savagery," the Doctor replied, as he put a protective arm over Amy, who was rubbing her belly and frowning at the ground.

Suddenly, a gnome from the garden crashed through the window, startling Rose and Amy considerably.

Rory rushed over to the window, followed closely by Rose, only to be surprised by Mrs Poggit. She sat on the roof outside, and, before either could react, she breathed the green gas again.

Rose screamed as the pain hit her. She stumbled back into the door, as Rory managed to guide himself over to where Amy still sat frozen in shock.

Before she'd really realized what was going on, the Doctor was at Rose's side, concern and pain so obvious in his eyes. His hands caressed her cheeks, even as he stared at her in shock and denial.

Rose's breath came in uneven gasps, and she knew it wouldn't be long now, but the physical pain she felt was nothing compared to the heartbreak she felt as she realized she wouldn't have her happily ever after anyway.

"I love you," he whispered, the sentiment so beautifully clear in those green eyes of his, Rose couldn't hold back a sob.

"Quite right… too," she managed, smiling at him one more time before darkness to her…

**A/N: Review!  
Also, I feel like doing some one-shots for this universe, so if you have any ideas, feel free to PM or review!**

**One more thing: do you think I should do more little bits in between, like 'life in the Tardis' sort of things? I feel like I'm concentrating too much on the adventures and not enough on their lives together.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: *ducks rotting fruit* I'm so sorry! I never meant for it to take this long to update. Somehow, preparations for Christmas, family visits, cleaning and plain laziness got in the way.  
**

**That said, here's the new chapter. Still not beta-ed! Hope you'll enjoy!  
**

**Chapter 10**

"What are we doing now?" Amy asked, still shivering and clutching Rory, as if he might die again if she released him.

The Doctor turned knobs and pushed buttons, sometimes with a bit of difficulty, seeing as everything was still frozen. "Me? I'm going to blow up the Tardis," he replied matter-of-factly.

"What!?"

/*/

Rose woke with a start. She sucked in deep breaths of air, like she'd been drowning and had just breached the surface. It took her a minute to think around the pounding headache she had, but eventually she remembered.

She'd been in the nursery with Amy, Rory and the Doctor, and… something had happened. She couldn't remember birdsong, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Or…

She'd died…

She'd died and this was the real world. The Doctor wasn't coming for her and she was alone. Again.

/*/

Rory woke up with a pounding headache. As the memories floated back to him, he was glad to find Amy at his side, alive and well, and in the early stages of waking up, herself.

They looked into each other's eyes, jumped up and raced to the console room. Once there, they found the Doctor staring at something in his hand.

"Any questions?" he asked, obviously feeling good about himself.

"Uhm, what's that?" Amy asked. Rory leaned closer to examine the tiny white dots on the Doctor's hand.

"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us," the Doctor explained, pushing the pollen around on his hand. He walked over to the Tardis doors and blew them out into the universe.

Amy was frowning at him, as if there was something about him that she just couldn't quite figure out, but she didn't say anything.

"So that was the Dream Lord then? Those little specks," Rory asked.

"No, no. No. Sorry, wasn't it obvious?" the Doctor asked, coming back over to the console. "he Dream Lord was me. Psychic pollen. It's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm nine hundred and seven. It had a lot to go on."

Amy asked why the polled didn't feed on her and Rory, but the Doctor explained that they didn't have enough darkness in them.

"And Rose does?" Rory asked, frowning. He liked Rose. She always seemed upbeat, she was intelligent, and she didn't overlook him like the Doctor often did.

The Doctor stilled for a moment. "Rose has been through a lot over the years… Still, even her darkest dreams aren't enough to really give voice to anything, she just created her own failing world when she was in the alternate universe."

"Speaking of which, why isn't she here yet?" Rory asked, glancing over to the stairs as if the blonde would somehow appear.

"I'll go check," Amy volunteered quickly. Both men looked over with a sceptical look on their faces. They both knew that the two women didn't exactly get along.

Amy rolled her eyes. "What, I'm bored!" And with that, she nimbly started up the stairs and set out to find Rose's bedroom. In reality, she'd been trying to figure out the Doctor, had any of what the Dream Lord had said been true?

/*/

Back in the console room, a question occurred to Rory. "Doctor, what I don't get is, you blew up the Tardis, that stopped that dream, but what stopped the Leadworth dream?" he asked curiously, as the Doctor pulled levers and twisted knobs on the console.

He looked up. "You should really ask your wife about that," he said, looked a tab embarrassed.

Rory frowned. "Why?"

"Because… you're human, isn't that what humans do?" the Doctor asked evasively, escaping to the other side of the console.

But Rory wanted answers, so he followed him. "What happened?"

The Doctor finally looked up at his companion. "We crashed the camper van," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Apparently, that habit had transferred from his last self.

"Oh, right. I don't remember that bit."

The Doctor kept his eyes on the buttons he was pretending to be fine-tuning. "You wouldn't, you weren't there."

Rory frowned. "Then where was I?"

"Uhm… dead, you were dead. Mrs Poggit got you," the Doctor finally responded.

"Oh…"

"That's what convinced Amy that it couldn't be the real universe, so we decided to crash the van," the Doctor explained, dashing around the console again, hoping that Rory wouldn't ask–

"But then what convinced you? And what about Rose, she was the most adamant of all of us that the Leadworth world was the real one."

The Doctor stilled, screwing his eyes shut to try to shut out the memory. "Rose wasn't there either," he managed to whisper eventually.

Rory's face softened. "Oh… I'm sorry, Doctor. But…"

The Doctor grimaced, not caring that the nurse saw him. "But what, Rory?" he asked with a resigned sigh.

"You weren't willing to live in a world where she's dead, but you were absolutely convinced that the dream with the ice star was the real one. Why is that?"

The Doctor paused, actually considering answering that question, when Amy burst in and saved him.

"She's still asleep. I can't wake her up!" she shouts, and the Time Lord jolted into action, running as fast as he ever had to Rose's room. He would never admit it, but he was worried. Rose hadn't been there when he realized both worlds were fake, so she might not have even considered the possibility. What if she was stuck there forever, thinking that he had abandoned her?

Her room was the same as he remembered it. Various items of clothing were strewn around the room, as well as several alien souvenirs and bits and bobs of alien technology that the Doctor sometimes worked on while Rose was sleeping or reading. He really did spend an inordinately large amount of time in his companion's room.

But this time, the soft pink, gold and purple overtones of the rooms couldn't soothe him as much as they usually do when he sees her prone form laying on the bed.

He sat down gently next to her on the bed, carefully brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. She looked so much younger and more fragile like this. It was odd, though it shouldn't be; he was so much more used to seeing this pink and yellow human be strong. He saw her as the Bad Wolf as she saved him and the universe, he was used to seeing her unflinchingly stare down at Daleks, Cybermen and Slytheen alike, with barely so much as a whimper. She even looked at him that way, even when he was at his worst, even when she was faced with all the things that he'd done… she stayed, and she fought, and she _cared_. And no matter how much he fought her to her face, in the privacy of his own mind, he could admit that he needed that from her more than anything else.

Relative privacy, he amended when the Tardis gave him a comforting nudge in his mind.

He was vaguely aware of Amy and Rory standing at the door, staring at him, but he paid them no mind as he checked Rose's pulse. It was steady, but a little on the slow side, though he'd expected that. Next, he did something he probably wouldn't have done if it was anyone else, not after the Madame de Pompadour fiasco. He put his fingertips on Rose's temples and entered her mind, hoping he wouldn't see what he expected to see.

The mind of a person who's awake is already a bit of a jumbled mess, unless you've had 900 years of practise as he'd had. But the mind of a sleeping person is something completely different. It was very hard for the Doctor to gain entry, not because Rose had any real defences to speak of – he was going to have to work on that with her – but because he was mostly at the mercy of her current thoughts, and a mind in a sleep state works about 10 times faster than a mind awake. It was a good thing he was a Time Lord.

The first impression he felt from her was such a bone-deep sadness and loneliness that he had to let go for a second. It didn't come close to what he'd felt after the Time War, but it was still so profound that he couldn't believe _his_ Rose was capable of such feeling.

With new determination, he delved back in, and was shocked to suddenly find himself in an unfamiliar room. It was filled to the brim with alien technology and was that a pterodactyl? Wherever he was, he didn't seem to have any control over his body.

"Rose, you in there?" a voice echoed through the cavernous room. The Doctor looked up, though not of his own volition, and spotted Jack coming out of an office of some kind. Jack frowned at him. "Are you alright, you look a little… down… well, more than usual."

The Doctor shook his head and waved a hand at the captain, though he still wasn't in control of his body at the time. He got up and walked over to Jack, but something in the corner of his eyes caught his eye. He looked over and saw Rose standing there, or, rather, a reflexion of her, as it was a metal wall. Rose was pregnant. He knew she'd told him that while they were in Leadworth, but she was as big as Amy had been! And she was alone.

A tear slipped from Rose's eye, and the Doctor raised a hand at the same time, for the first time in control. He paused and she did the same. He frowned, as did she, and held his hand in front of his face. The hand he saw was achingly familiar, but it was not his own. The fingers were slender and feminine and the ring finger held a ring with Rose's birthstone in it. He looked up sharply at the reflexion, and so did Rose.

He was looking through Rose's eyes.

/*/

The Doctor jerked back to reality, letting go of Rose's head. She was alone again, and it was all his fault. Again.

"Well, Doctor, what did you see?" Amy asked tentatively from the door.

He looked up, his haunted eyes meeting hers. "She's trapped."

Amy looked at Rory, not knowing what to say to comfort her friend.

"What can we do?" Rory asked, a determined set to his jaw.

The Doctor studied his friends, even as another part of his brain was already formulating a plan. They really were extraordinary, he realized as they stood there, ready to help him, no matter the cost.

"We're going to save her," he replied, a steely note in his voice as he gathered his Rose in his arms and stepped out of the room. _He_ was going to save her, if he had to go to the ends of the universe to get her.

**A/N: Review?**


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